Seib & Wessel: What We’re Reading Tuesday

Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) writes that while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is being vilified by fellow Republicans for his strategy to try to defund Obamacare, “all the shots at Cruz from inside and outside Congress only strengthen his relationship with the grassroots,” while his strategy will in the long run “make it much, much harder” for Republicans to cooperate with Democrats on fixes to the new health law down the road. [Red State]

Judd Gregg, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire and now a lobbyist for Wall Street, says the GOP move to defund Obamacare is “the political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with all the chambers of the gun loaded. It is the ultimate no-win strategy.” [The Hill]

China has decided to lift its ban on social media and some foreign media sites, which the government considers politically sensitive—but only in the Shanghai Free-trade Zone, not the entire country. [South China Morning Post]

Pete Wehner (@Peter_Wehner), in a glowing review of Pope Francis‘ recent interviews with a Jesuit magazine, says that the Pope hasn’t changed Church doctrine but that “six months into his papacy, through his words and his actions, he has changed its emphasis and tone.” [Commentary]

Rep. Paul Ryan, who has raised eyebrows with a plan to visit New Hampshire next month, now also has a contract to write a book on conservatism for Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. [Huffington Post]

Kenneth Pollack says a nuclear deal with Iran would be a “godsend” but warns that any deal should include provisions that ensure Iran’s continual compliance. These include suspending sanctions, rather than lifting them, and allowing for “intrusive, comprehensive, surprise inspections.” [New Republic]

In a profile of Qassem Suleimani, Dexter Filkins writes that the Iranian leader of the Quds Force has been working to reshape the Middle East in Iran’s favor, “assassinating rivals, arming allies, and, for most of a decade, directing a network of militant groups that killed hundreds of Americans in Iraq.” And he’s now directing Assad’s war in Syria. [New Yorker] Read the WSJ article on Suleimani from April 2012.

What We’re Writing

To understand House Republicans, first it’s necessary to recognize who is in the House Republican conference. Second, it’s necessary to remember how they got to Washington in the first place. Read Jerry Seib’s Capital Journal column and watch Jerry discuss the House GOP on the News Hub.

Sign of the Times

Minor milestones we’ve spotted:

More than 500 endowed, independent charitable foundations have been created or enriched by privatization of state- or customer-owned enterprises. Together they have assets of $128 billion, 56% of them in Italy, 16% in the U.S. and 12% in Germany. [Economist]

China signed a deal to farm about 11,500 square miles of Ukraine – 5% of its total land, 9% of its arable farm land – to feed the hungry Chinese population. [Quartz]

Democrat Terry McAuliffe leads Republican Ken Cuccinelli 47% to 39% among likely voters, a Washington Post/Abt-SRBI poll finds, a near reversal from the 10-point lead Cuccinelli held in the spring. [Washington Post]

U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 388,422 people trying to enter the United States without documents during the 11 months ending in August, more than the 364,768 caught in the fiscal year ended September 2012. [WSJ]

About as many Americans say they’d blame the Republicans (39%) as say they’d blame Obama (36%) if the federal government shuts down, and 17% say both would be equally to blame. [Pew Research Center]

The U.S. Army is preparing to ban tattoos below the knee and elbow and above the neck. [National Journal]

Wal-Mart said it is moving 35,000 part-time workers to full-time jobs and more than 35,000 temporary workers to part-time positions. [WSJ]

Adjunct professors make up 75% of college instructors in the U.S. [NPR]

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that will require Web companies to erase postings by minors if they request it. [SFGate]

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.